Welcome 2012!January and February are filled with fun; we welcome the Chinese New Year, Polar Bear Day, Valentine’s Day and Tell a Fairy Tale Day. You will find resources below to help you celebrate each one.

This year is shaping up to be wonderful already! On January 6 I begin a 19 week series,"Whales, Tales and Sails" at theNational Historical Whaling Parkin New Bedford, MA. This will be a bit different than my usual storytelling work as it is a parent/child centered lapsit program, geared to newborn through three years old. If you are interested in attending this free morning program contact them via the link above.

In March I will attend the LANESSharing the Fire Conferencein Albany, NY and present a workshop, Enhance Your Online Presence – Blog It Baby, and also co-present another workshop,Branding, It Doesn’t Have to Hurt,with the talented Simon Brooks. In April I will make my way to the Northlands Storytelling Conferencein Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and present the blog workshop again. In June I will be part of a panel discussion at theNational Storytelling Conferencein Cincinnati, Ohio with nationally known, award winning tellersElizabeth Ellis and Linda Gorham; our topic isSelling Stories, Not Snake Oil. Each of these conferences offers a wide range of opportunities for storytellers, educators, librarian, those in the healing arts, business, and parents. Come and join in the fun, you won’t be sorry!

As always, I appreciate your time and support. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please drop me a note at storybug@aol.com .

"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in." ~ Greek proverb

STORIES

January 23 ushers in the Chinese New and 2012 is the Year of the Dragon according to the Chinese Zodiac
and January 16is Appreciate a Dragon Day!

Dragons - Mythical, Mystical, Magical Creatures!This link http://tinyurl.com/7nhwxhxwill take you to a blog post on dragons I wrote in May of 2011. This post from 2008 offers information and the legend of the twelve animals of the zodiac. http://tinyurl.com/yfqejbk

February always brings Valentine’s Day to mind but did you know that February 27 is Polar Bear Day? Here are some stories to wake you up from your deep winter hibernation!

I bet you thought I was leaving out Valentine’s Day! Tales to Warm the Winter Nights - Here is a blog post from last year filled with love stories and trivia to share.http://tinyurl.com/7kao5pd

Wisdom, Wit and Wonder: Fabulous Fairy Tales
February 26 is Tell a Fairy Tale Day. The link will take you to a blog post with an array of resources to help you celebrate in style! http://tinyurl.com/7vb4das

The Storytree Company – Australian storyteller Jenny Cargill-Strong contacted me for permission to share some of the resources from my website on her blog and so began my introduction to her wonderful blog. I just love the way the Internet reaches across the continents and connects us! Jenni writes about a variety of storytelling topics. Give yourself a treat and stop by. http://www.storytree.com.au/

Since the magic number in fairytales is three and I love Bill Lampton's work, I offer you two of his articles and a video to ring in the New Year!

10 Greatest Communication Blunders of 2011from The Complete Communicator– At the end of every year my friend and speech consultant extraordinaire Bill Lampton shares these lessons, in the guise of blunders. We can all learn from them! http://thecompletecommunicator.com/?p=2389

Crayons, Crafts and Coloring Oh My! –I compiled all of my craft suggestions from previous newsletters from my newsletter from 2008 – 2010 here. You will find crafts for Valentine’s Day, Groundhog Day and more to help you all year through. There are of course more from 2011; use the Google search tool on the main newsletter page if you need something specific that you do not find here. http://tinyurl.com/6pkybnz

I have moved this section to my blog. Every issue the old information will be deleted and new events will be listed. If you have an upcoming event I will be happy to list it for free. Please go to this linkhttp://tinyurl.com/6e5mk9lfor the specific directions and format then email it to me atstorybug@aol.comwith the subject heading “Education Highway.”

READERS THEATER

Proteacher.com - Another way to celebrate Tell a Fairy Tale Day is with Reader’s Theater! Here is a great resource to set you on the right path. Leave some bread crumbs so you can find your way back! http://tinyurl.com/6pludnz

You may find it at this link. http://tinyurl.com/3w7yutc. Also, if you have any regular spoken word and storytelling venues such as guild gatherings you would like to list send them to me at storybug@aol.com and I will be happy to add; this is a free service. Directions are at the link.

Untiny.me

You may notice that many of the URL’s in my newsletter begin with http://tinyurl.com. This service turns very long web addresses into shorter ones. Untiny.me retrieves the original so you will be able to access it if it is blocked by your server. http://untiny.me/

About Catch the Storybug Newsletter

This monthly or bi-monthly newsletter is researched and written by Karen Chace, Professional Storyteller, Author, Web Researcher, Workshop Leader, Storytelling Teacher and Story Coach.